Either take you're shoes off when you're not climbing or, at the very minimum, bring a piece of carpet with you and clean them well before you leave the ground. There is no excuse for smearing mud, sand and leaves on every hold for half the route.

1. Dirty shoes = reduced friction. You're hurting yourself.

2. Dirty holds = reduced friction. You're hurting me.

3. The dirt on you're shoes is an aggregate and polishes the holds much faster than just shoe rubber, which results in irreversible reductions in friction for everyone, FOREVER.

Most frustrating of all; this stupid behavior of tromping around in the dirt with you're shoes on isn't isolated to the nOObs. I know climbers with 20+ years on the rock who don't take their shoes off when they hit the ground. Sometimes not for the entire rest period between routes, regardless of whether they're bouldering, clipping bolts or plugging gear. And I've seen it at every crag I've visited.

I personally take my shoes off as soon as I hit the ground, I clean them on my pants before I leave the ground and clean them on my pants as I climb, as needed. Not everyone has to be that OCD but seriously, when I'm downclimbing and find muddy/sandy holds by surprise, holds that are only muddy/sandy because of you slack ass chumps, that shit pisses me off.

Until then I'll wear them as much as I want, whenever I want and wherever I want.

We stopped to get food on the way home from a daytrip, only to realize that I didn't have any actual shoes with me. I wore my buddies Mythos (they were bigger and more comfy than my Anasazis) in to the restaurant. Nobody noticed, or at least didn't say anything. I kicked em of once at the table and then wore them back out again. Gotta do what ya gotta do sometimes.

You have an excellent point. The dirty shoes do grind down rock quicker than usual. I bring a mat to stand on and I should bring a cleaner for my shoes too. It's a shame when you notice popular routes becoming polished and more difficult, usually at the start of the route. Simple fixes like your suggestions are a great start.

...but seriously, when I'm downclimbing and find muddy/sandy holds by surprise, holds that are only muddy/sandy because of you slack ass chumps, that shit pisses me off.

So you didn't notice the mud on your way up, but you did on your way back down?

Up one route, down another, in this particular case.

But honestly, this rant has been a long time coming. I've watched people stomp around in the dirt before getting on the wall for years. When I ask them about it, they just shrug and say "I've never noticed a difference". No shit. You're shoes are ALWAYS dirty. Dumbass.

Dedicated boulderers are probably the best about keeping their shoes clean. Tradwankers are the worst by a mile.

Until then I'll wear them as much as I want, whenever I want and wherever I want.

I do wipe them carefully, though, before stepping onto the rock.

Would the seven anonymous fucktards who gave this post one star please come forward.

Jay

Heh. It looks like that bolted on belay ledge made him a few new friends.

Add to that the constant pimping of his blog and the steady stream of poor to mediocre pictures he's got on the front page. I thought the site charged for advertising, how does Ed's crap bypass that?

All of the pics of his on the front page get five stars from the same three people almost immediately after they are posted, which appears to be enough votes to get them in the front page rotation. I bet all three are troll accounts of Ed's.